Social criticism, the corrupted garb
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काखे कडासन आड पडे । खडबड खडबडे हुसकलें ॥१॥
दादकरा दादकरा । फजितखोरा लाज नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघा जाला राम राम । कोणी कर्म आचरे ना ॥२॥
हरिदासांच्या पडती पायां । म्हणती तयां नागवावें ॥३॥
दोहीं ठायीं फजीत जालें । पारणें केलें अवकळा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे नाश केला । विटंबिला वेश जिहीं ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
With a seat-cloth tucked under his arm, he stumbles and makes a commotion. The shameless disgrace cries out, help, help! He has no dignity at all. Everywhere it is all Ram Ram on the lips, but no one truly practices the discipline. They fall at the feet of the devout only to strip them bare. In both worlds they have been disgraced, and their observances have gone to ruin. Says Tuka, they have destroyed themselves by corrupting the very garb of devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A seat-cloth tucked under his arm, he stumbles and makes a clatter. Help, help, the shameless cheat cries out; he has no dignity at all. Everywhere it is Ram Ram on the lips, but no one actually does the discipline. They fall at the feet of God's devotees only to strip them bare. In both worlds they are disgraced, and their observances have come to ruin. Tuka says: they have destroyed themselves, these who corrupted the very garb of devotion.
What it means
Tukaram is attacking the counterfeit holy man, all show and noise with nothing behind it. The name of Ram is on every tongue while the actual practice is nowhere; reverence for true devotees is faked as a way to rob them. The verse names the stakes plainly: such people are disgraced in this world and the next, and their religious observances yield nothing. The closing line locates the real harm. By wearing the garb of devotion as a mask, they corrupt the garb itself and bring ruin on no one so much as themselves. The poem points at the hypocrisy, not at any single soul, asking you to weigh whether your own outward religion has any inward discipline under it.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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